The ministry mentioned that it summoned the German ambassador in Russia on Monday to lodge a protest over expulsion of 40 Russian diplomats from Germany.
"The German ambassador received a note declaring 40 employees of German diplomatic missions in Russia ‘persona non grata’ as a symmetrical response to the aforementioned decision of the German government," the ministry said in a statement.
"The German ambassador received a note declaring 40 employees of German diplomatic missions in Russia ‘persona non grata’ as a symmetrical response to the aforementioned decision of the German government," the ministry said in a statement.
In early April, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced that a "substantial number" of Russian diplomats would be expelled in response to what she described as "unbelievable brutality" allegedly committed by the Russian armed forces in the town of Bucha outside Kiev and across Ukraine in general.
Moscow responded to Baerbock's statement by saying that an appropriate response would follow and dismissing Berlin's allegations concerning the tragedy in Bucha. The Kremlin has repeatedly refuted Kiev's accusations (widely distributed by Western media) of killing civilians in Bucha, stressing that videos and photos from the area purportedly showing corpses of civilians lying in the streets were staged.